Lower fertility rates seen in type 1 diabetes patients

Researchers who studied 350,000 Germans found that the overall fertility rate in women with type 1 diabetes was 0.88 children, compared with a fertility rate of 1.36 children in women in the broader population. The fertility rate in men with type 1 diabetes was 0.65 children. The findings appear in Diabetic Medicine. Researchers also found that maternal diabetes delayed the onset of type 1 diabetes in children. "Therefore, irrespective of the type of diabetes, there may be a protective effect of maternal diabetes per se," the researchers wrote.